Eric Ross
Eric Ross was a sycophantic summer camper who struck up an acquaintanceship with Ben at Appel Farms. This has led Ben to try to incorporate Eric into every incarnation of the community, an attempt which always fails because Eric always stops participating after a day. First Contact Eric Ross was initially exposed to the community when Ben invited him to the Weeb Nation Skype server during the first ever Week of Shenanigans. Unlike most of the other temporary joiners, Eric immediately left, an omen of his future lackluster participation. A few weeks later, Ben invited him back to help Max design a Conquerors server in the Nether. Eric joined the server but provided little assistance, if any. After a day, he never interacted with the Minecraft server or the Skype group again. Although he was completely unresponsive and inactive, Eric would remain part of Weeb Nation for another week before Max managed to discreetly kick him. He assumed that this would be the last they saw of Eric, but although this was the end of Eric's time on Skype, it was only the beginning of Discord. Greater Relevance Originally, the attitude of the Old Guard towards Hidden Ones was one of benevolent tolerance. Inactive members were treated as a fact of life, and at the time of Eric Ross's joining Discord nearly half of the Weeb Nation server was comprised of inactive members. Nonetheless, most server members knew everyone else by name; despite the disparity in participation, nobody felt like an outright stranger. Into this climate of familiarity and acceptance came Eric Ross like a wrecking ball. The details of his participation are irrelevant: Ben invited him to play some strategy game, and after a week he was never seen again. What matters is that his presence was felt like a flaming thorn in the side of the community. Not only was there a stranger in this previously tightly-knit group, but a stranger who spat in the face of their hospitality by refusing to interact with them. He had no shared interests, didn't reply to pings, no one knew anything about him, and even Ben never mentioned him. But all the while, Eric's name sat on the side of the screen, mocking them by perpetually being online but never participating. Insult would be added to injury as other server members followed Ben's example and invited Hidden Ones of their own. The once-unified server became inundated with strangers who came and went seemingly at random, swelling its population but adding nothing of value. Slowly but surely, the attitude of the Old Guard shifted to one of hostility. Having been burned by Eric Ross's disinterest and coping with an influx of nobodies, the core group opted against reaching out to any other new joiners, and subsequently started feeling outnumbered by these perceived invaders. As nativist sentiment gained traction, Cypress and Max began calling for a purge. However, Jaleel continued to delay taking any sort of exclusionary action. By the time he finally stepped in, the hearts of the Old Guard had irrevocably hardened against new joiners. Unexciting Conclusion As for Eric Ross, he was purged with the rest of the Hidden Ones on September 21st, 2018. Since then, he has popped in and out of both Temporary Empire and Weeb Nation thanks to invites from Ben. His only act of participation was to briefly take part in a single game of Conquerors during the 2019 revival. Aside from that, he remains the same as he has always been; a loyalty joiner with no interest in becoming part of the community. Category:Former Members Category:Loyalty Joiners